In the telecommunications industry, it is well-known to electrically interconnect telephone lines to network equipment through means of a card edge type electrical connector. More particularly, as best seen, for example, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional or PRIOR ART electrical connection arrangement or assembly for achieving the aforenoted type connections within the telecommunications art is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 10. The electrical connection arrangement comprises an elongated card edge type electrical connector 12 which is provided with a plurality of electrical contacts 14 which are disposed in an elongated or serial array along the length of the connector 12 and which respectively define a plurality of upstanding pin contact portions 16 protruding externally from the upper region of the connector 12, and a plurality of edge contact portions 18 which are disposed internally within the bottom region of the connector 12. The edge contact portions 18 are adapted to mate in a well-known manner with a printed circuit board, not shown, which is operatively connected to network equipment, also not shown, and which is adapted to be inserted into a recessed portion 20 of the connector 12 so as to electrically engage the edge contact portions 18. The upstanding pin contact portions 16 are adapted to be electrically engaged with telephone lines 22 through means of well-known wire-wrap type connections 24.
The electrical connection arrangement or assembly 10 is completed by the inclusion of an over-voltage protection printed circuit board 26 which is provided with a plurality of gas tube over-voltage protection devices 28 that are designed to fail upon sensing or being exposed to over-voltage conditions so as to protect the telecommunications circuits and network equipment. The over-voltage protection printed circuit board 26 is seen to be disposed atop the card edge connector 12 and comprises a plurality of apertures for permitting passage of the pin contacts 16 therethrough. In order to complete the entire assembly 10, it is to be appreciated that each one of the pin contacts 16 may be soldered to the over-voltage protection printed circuit board 26 as at 30, although the printed circuit board 26 could be connected to the pin contacts 16 by means of solderless connections. In addition, each one of the wire wrap connections 24 is soldered to its respective pin contact 16 as at 32, as best illustrated in and seen from FIG. 1. It can thus be appreciated that the fabrication of this assembly or arrangement can be quite time consuming and labor intensive, particularly in view of the different processes or procedures involved in conjunction with the fabrication or disposition of the wire-wrapped connections 24 upon the pin contacts 16.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved electrical connector which can facilitate the simultaneous electrical connection of the telephone lines to the card edge connector, through the intermediary of the new and improved electrical connector, and wherein all electrical connections can be achieved in a solderless manner. In particular, a need exists in the art for a new and improved electrical connector wherein the telephone lines can in effect be electrically connected to the upstanding pins of the card edge connector without the need for wire-wrap connections to be defined between the telephone signal lines and the upstanding pins of the card edge connector. In this manner, all electrical connections can be readily performed in a time-efficient manner comprising minimum expenditures of manpower.